Excellent farmland sold for an average $12,800 an acre in Illinois in 2013. Here are the averages by land type for the Springfield region:

* Excellent: $12,900

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Area prices

Excellent farmland sold for an average $12,800 an acre in Illinois in 2013. Here are the averages by land type for the Springfield region:

* Excellent: $12,900

* Good: $10,000

* Average: $6,800

* Recreational: $3,300

Source: Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Appraisers

The record runup in Illinois farmland prices flattened out in 2013, according to an annual survey released Thursday.

Lower grain prices were the major reason, said the report from the Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Appraisers. The survey of 2013 land sales was released at the Illinois Land Values Conference in Bloomington.

The statewide average $12,800-an-acre price for excellent farmland at the end of the year was down 2 percent from the start of the year. Prime ground in the Springfield region, according to the report, sold at an average of $12,900 an acre.

Land prices have fallen along with expectations for farm income resulting from lower grain prices, especially for corn, the survey found. The current price of about $4.30 per bushel for corn comes after prices consistently above $5 from 2010 to the middle of 2013.

Most analysts expect corn prices will continue to fall this year, based on current supply and production forecasts.

The report authors said the current trend represents a “correction” after years of steadily rising prices but that they do not expect the kind of 50 percent drop in prices that followed the “bubble” of the early 1980s.

“It doesn’t look like a bubble to us,” said Dale Aupperle, chairman of the survey project. “A more normal time for farmland prices may be in store for the next several years.”